The Oxford Handbook of the Science of Science Communication

Edited by Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Dan Kahan, and Dietram A. Scheufele

Description

The proposal to vaccinate adolescent girls against the human papilloma virus ignited political controversy, as did the advent of fracking and a host of other emerging technologies. These disputes attest to the persistent gap between expert and public perceptions. Complicating the communication of sound science and the debates that surround the societal applications of that science is a changing media environment in which misinformation can elicit belief without corrective context and likeminded individuals are prone to seek ideologically comforting information within their own self-constructed media enclaves.

Drawing on the expertise of leading science communication scholars from six countries, The Oxford Handbook of the Science of Science Communication not only charts the media landscape - from news and entertainment to blogs and films - but also examines the powers and perils of human biases - from the disposition to seek confirming evidence to the inclination to overweight endpoints in a trend line. In the process, it draws together the best available social science on ways to communicate science while also minimizing the pernicious effects of human bias.

The Handbook adds case studies exploring instances in which communication undercut or facilitated the access to scientific evidence. The range of topics addressed is wide, from genetically engineered organisms and nanotechnology to vaccination controversies and climate change. Also unique to this book is a focus on the complexities of involving the public in decision making about the uses of science, the regulations that should govern its application, and the ethical boundaries within which science should operate. The Handbook is an invaluable resource for researchers in the communication fields, particularly in science and health communication, as well as to scholars involved in research on scientific topics susceptible to distortion in partisan debate.

Part II: IDENTIFYING AND OVERCOMING CHALLENGES TO SCIENCE FEATURED IN ATTACKS ON SCIENCE

8. Science as "Broken" vs. Science as "Self-Correcting": How Retractions and Peer-Review Problems are Exploited to Attack ScienceJoseph Hilgard - Annenberg Public Policy Center Postdoctoral Fellow in Science of Science of Communication - University of Pennsylvania

9. Publication Bias in Science: What is it, Why is it Problematic, and How Can It Be Addressed?Andrew Brown - Scientist, Nutrition and Obesity Research Center and Office of Energetics - University of Alabama at Birmingham

David Allison - Quetelet Endowed Professor of Public Health, Associate Dean for Science, and Director, Office of Energetics - University of Alabama at Birmingham

10. Statistical Biases in Science Communication: What We Know About Them and How They Can Be AddressedJohn Ioannidis - C.F. Rehnborg Chair in Disease Prevention, Professor of Medicine, and Director, Stanford Prevention Research Center (SPRC) - Stanford University

11. Is there a Hype Problem in Science? If So, How is it Addressed?Peter Weingart - Professor Emeritus and former Director, Center for Interdisciplinary Research - University of Bielefeld, Germany

12. Is there a Retraction Problem? And, If So, What Do We Know About How It Is and Can Be Addressed?Adam Marcus - Co-Founder - Retraction Watch; Managing Editor - Gastroenterology & Endoscopy News and Anesthesiology News

13. A Recap: Identifying and Overcoming Challenges to Science Featured in Attacks on ScienceJoseph Hilgard - Annenberg Public Policy Center Postdoctoral Fellow in Science of Science of Communication - University of Pennsylvania

PART III: SCIENCE COMUNICATION IN ACTION: FAILURES & SUCCESSES

14. A Comparative Study of Communication about Food Safety Before, During and After the "Mad Cow" CrisisMatteo Ferrari - Assistant Professor of Private Law - University of Trento, Italy

17. A Tale of Two Vaccines - and their Science Communication EnvironmentsDan Kahan - Elizabeth K. Dollard Professor of Law and Professor of Psychology - Yale University

Asheley Landrum - Annenberg Public Policy Center Postdoctoral Fellow in Science of Science of Communication - University of Pennsylvania

18. A Recap: Science Communication in ActionHeather Akin - Annenberg Public Policy Center Postdoctoral Fellow in Science of Science of Communication - University of Pennsylvania

PART IV: THE ROLES OF ELITE INTERMEDIARIES IN COMMUNICATING SCIENCE19. Science Communication at Scientific InstitutionsTiffany Lohwater - Director of Meetings and Public Engagement - American Association for the Advancement of Science

Martin Storksdieck - Professor and Director, Center for Research on Lifelong STEM Learning - Oregon State University

20. The Role of Scholarly Presses and JournalsBarbara Kline Pope - Executive Director for Communications - The National Academies; Executive Director - National Academies Press

25. Designing Public Deliberation at the Intersection of Science and Public PolicyJohn Gastil - Head and Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences and Political Science - Pennsylvania State University

27. A Recap: The Role of Intermediaries in Communicating Science: A SynthesisAsheley Landrum - Annenberg Public Policy Center Postdoctoral Fellow in Science of Science of Communication - University of Pennsylvania

Part V: THE ROLE, POWER, AND PERIL OF MEDIA FOR THE COMMUNICATION OF SCIENCE

28. The (Changing) Nature of Scientist-Media Interactions: A Cross National Analysis Sara Yeo - Assistant Professor of Communication - University of Utah

Dominique Brossard - Professor and Chair, Department of Life Sciences Communication - University of Wisconsin-Madison

29. New Models of Knowledge-Based JournalismMatthew Nisbet - Associate Professor of Communication Studies, and Affiliate Associate Professor of Public Policy and Urban Affairs - Northeastern University

Declan Fahy - Professor of Communication - Dublin City University

30. Citizens Making Sense of Science Issues: Supply and Demand Factors for Science News and Information in the Digital AgeMichael Xenos - CAPs Professor and Department Chair, Department of Communication Arts - University of Wisconsin-Madison

31. The Changing Popular Images of ScienceDavid Kirby - Senior Lecturer in Science Communication Studies - University of Manchester, England

32. What Do We Know About the Entertainment Industry's Portrayal of Science? How Does It Affect Public Attitudes Toward Science?James Shanahan - Professor and Dean, Media School - Indiana University

Michael Dahlstrom - Associate Professor of Journalism and Communication Iowa State University

34. Assumptions about Science in Satirical News and Late Night ComedyLauren Feldman - Associate Professor of Communication and Information - Rutgers University

35. A Recap: The Role, Power, and Peril of Media for the Communication of ScienceNan Li - Assistant Professor of Agricultural Education and Communications - Texas Tech University

Robert Lull - Annenberg Public Policy Center Postdoctoral Fellow in Science of Science of Communication - University of Pennsylvania

Part VI: CHALLENGES IN COMMUNICATING SCIENCE IN A POLARIZED ENVIRONMENT

36. Countering False Beliefs: An Analysis of the Evidence and Recommendations of Best Practices for the Retraction and Correction of Scientific MisinformationMan-pui Sally Chan - Postdoctoral Research Associate, Psychology - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Dolores Albarracin - Professor of Psychology and Business - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

37. Using Frames to Make Scientific Communication More EffectiveJames Druckman - Payson S. Wild Professor of Political Science and Faculty Fellow, Institute for Policy Research - Northwestern University

43. Understanding and Overcoming Fear of the Unnatural in Discussion of GMOsRobert Lull - Annenberg Public Policy Center Postdoctoral Fellow in Science of Science of Communication - University of Pennsylvania

Dietram Scheufele - John E. Ross Professor of Science Communication and Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor - University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Morgridge Institute for Research

44. Protecting or Polluting the Science Communication Environment? The Case of Childhood VaccinesDan Kahan - Elizabeth K. Dollard Professor of Law and Professor of Psychology - Yale University

46. Overcoming the Challenges of Communicating Uncertainty Across National ContextsMichael Siegrist - Professor of Consumer Behavior and Head of Institute for Environmental Decisions - ETH Zürich, Switzerland

47. A Recap: Heuristics, Biases, Values and Other Challenges to Communicating ScienceHeather Akin - Annenberg Public Policy Center Postdoctoral Fellow in Science of Science of Communication - University of Pennsylvania Asheley Landrum - Annenberg Public Policy Center Postdoctoral Fellow in Science of Science of Communication - University of Pennsylvania

The Oxford Handbook of the Science of Science Communication

Edited by Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Dan Kahan, and Dietram A. Scheufele

Author Information

Kathleen Hall Jamieson is the Elizabeth Ware Packard Professor at the Annenberg School for Communication of the University of Pennsylvania and the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Director of its Annenberg Public Policy Center. The author of four award winning Oxford University Press books on political and press communications, she is co-founder of FactCheck.org, which researches the veracity of claims made by political players. Its SciCheck feature was launched in 2015 to expose the misuse of scientific evidence in political discourse.

Dan Kahan is the Elizabeth K. Dollard Professor of Law and Professor of Psychology at Yale Law School. He is a member of the Cultural Cognition Project, an interdisciplinary team of scholars who use empirical methods to examine the impact of group values on perceptions of risk and science communication.

Dietram A. Scheufele is the John E. Ross Professor in Science Communication and Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and in the Morgridge Institute for Research. His research deals with the interface of media, policy, and public opinion. Scheufele has co-chaired the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's Roundtable on Public Interfaces of the Life Sciences, and vice-chaired the recent Academies' consensus report on "Communicating science effectively: A research agenda."

Brian Southwell Center for Communication Science RTI InternationalResearch Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA;Duke University Energy InitiativeDuke UniversityDurham, North Carolina, USA; School of Journalism and Mass Communication and Gillings School of Public Health University of North Carolina at Chapel HillChapel Hill, North Carolina, USA

The Oxford Handbook of the Science of Science Communication

Edited by Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Dan Kahan, and Dietram A. Scheufele

Reviews and Awards

"The Oxford Handbook of the Science of Science Communication is a comprehensive and much-needed resource for anyone concerned with the faithful and effective communication of science. It ably accomplishes the difficult feat of portraying the current state of understanding on this very broad topic while simultaneously presenting concise recommendations for future scholarship and practice. Perhaps most importantly, the Handbook should put to rest the notion that there is insufficient knowledge available to improve efforts to engage the many 'publics' on scientific topics." -- Jonathan F. Fanton, President, American Academy of Arts & Sciences

"Familiarity with the discoveries, norms, and ways of knowing of science should not be limited to scientists. By applying the scientific method itself to scientific communication, Jamieson, Kahan, and Scheufele improve the effectiveness with which researchers disseminate their findings and demystify science for broad audiences." -- Marcia K. McNutt, President, National Academy of Sciences